What Remains
by gerardlover123
Summary: It all seemed so normal, so happy. Watching them play tag in the sun, giggles riding the warm breeze that blew through. Then the prison fence came into view, and the walkers lurking just beyond. The giggles were twisted in with the growls and cries of the hungry dead, and I'm reminded that all is not well. R&R
1. All I Have

"I'm hungry."

I looked down and smiled sadly at my young nephew, Ben, throwing an arm around his shoulders as we made our way down a dirt road. It would have been a beautiful walk with the kids in the good days. Nothing to listen for except for the birds and the wind through the trees. Nothing to watch for but maybe a deer. All that had changed the day of the outbreak. Now, even a twig snapping was cause for alarm. We'd been traveling on the road for almost four miles without a damn house in sight, just more forest. All I had left was a small can of peaches, but that was our reserve.

"I know, buddy," I leaned down slightly to gently kiss the top of his head before sighing, "we all are." I gave my niece's hand a little squeeze.

"Aren't we, Sare-bear?" I looked down to her, but she remained silent as ever. I sighed once again, looking to the road in front of me. She hadn't spoken a word since things had taken a turn for the worst. I knew she was hurting and that she was scared, but she needed to be strong.. we all did.

My thoughts and movements halted as I heard a groan come from the trees to my left. A breeze began to come through and the acrid smell of rotting hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Whoawhoawhoa." I whisper, throwing my arms in front of them to stop them as well. Two dead bastards emerged from the trees, limping toward us with their mouths agape. Both of them men, one missing an arm. Neither of them looked very fresh, their putrescent flesh hanging from their bones. They growled at us lowly, gnashing their yellowed teeth as they shuffled closer.

"Ben, turn around and cover your sister's eyes." I said lowly, quickly grabbing my hammer that's always tucked safely into my belt loop. Before they even had a chance to take another step, I drove the claw into the arm-less one's head. Its body fell to the ground and I braced my foot on its shoulder to tug on the hammer. It didn't budge and I could hear the other one's snarls getting louder. I stopped yanking for a moment to kick the nasty thing backwards. It stumbled away, almost losing its footing but quickly regained its balance, coming back for me once more. My foot came down hard onto the dead one's head, effectively crushing it and removing my hammer. Crying out, I threw myself towards the monster, letting the tool find its home in the bastard's third eye. My eyes shut and I cringed at the wet thunk it made. The growling stopped. All that could be heard was my heavy breathing and Sarah's small whimpers. I opened my eyes to look down. A man, and judging by what he was wearing, a fireman. I crouched down. On his dirty, bloodied yellow coat, a name; Jackson. I shook my head. Don't feel bad, Harper. They aren't human anymore. Grasping the handle of the hammer, I pulled as hard as I could. Blood sprayed out around the wound as the claw came loose.

"You guys okay?" I asked, rising to my feet to make my way back to the kids. Ben turned back to look at me, but his blue eyes trailed off to the dead. His face betrayed his fear but he nodded his head. Sarah turned around slowly, tears springing to her eyes.

"Hey, come on now." I pulled her to me tightly, her arms wrapping around my waist and her face buried into my stomach. She was trembling. I sighed. I only wished I could do more for them, so they wouldn't have to go through this.

"It's going to be okay," I started to rub small smoothing circles on her back, but it made no difference. "We're gonna find a place to stay and pretty soon, everything's going to go back to normal." If only I could believe my own words..

"Harper?" Ben's shaky voice startled me. I looked to the treeline where his fearful gaze was centered. Panic coursed through my body and my hold on Sarah tightened instinctively. More of them began to pour out of the trees, at least fifteen of them. I forced myself to let go of her to grab the crowbar sticking out of my bag and quickly handed it to Ben. If anything was going to happen to me, at least they would have a chance.

"We need to run, now!" I grabbed them by their shirts and pushed them ahead of me through the trees. As we ran, I could hear more of them. Their growls echoed through the air and I couldn't pin point where they were coming from. Sarah wasn't moving fast enough and I could tell she was getting tired. I didn't even stop running as I picked her up into my arms but that didn't last long. Sure, over a year of running had done wonders for my figure, but the starvation did nothing for the rest of me. After only a few feet, my knees went weak and I collapsed. Sarah tumbled away from me and my face caught my fall, cracking off of something hard.

I groaned as I rolled onto my back, my hands automatically coming to the open wound on my face.

"Harper!" Ben cried. My eyes snapped open, but my vision was blurry. I could barely make out the shape of the walking corpse above me. I watched as it knelt down in front of me. I tried to crawl backwards on my elbows but they slipped in the dirt and I could feel my head begin to spin.

"Get down!" A strange voice from behind me. The corpse came in for the kill and my mind gave in to the embracing darkness.

_**_**Author's Note:**_**_____Please, please, please leave me a review. Doesn't have to be long. If you love it or hate it, give me some constructive criticism. :D Hope you enjoy the story!  
PS: I apologize if I've missed any spelling mistakes. I haven't slept so my mind is a little fuzzy ..__


	2. The Prison

My eyes flew open. I gasped as I sat up, but immediately regretted it. My head began to spin once again and my body forced itself back down onto... something soft?

"Take it easy." I jumped, the voice startling me. I quickly pulled myself into a sitting position. An old man sat in a chair next to the bed, looking at me with pity.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded, not knowing what kind of person I was dealing with. "T-the kids that were with me, where are they? Are they here?" _If anything had happened to them, oh god.._ Tears began to build in my eyes.

"No need to panic. They are here and they are fine." I stood up, quickly taking in my surroundings. Its a small room, bunk bed, steel frames, cement walls, bars... was this a prison?

"Please, there is no need to worry. We have other children here. They are fine." He tried reassuring me, but it wouldn't work. They were all I had left in this world and I'd be damned if I didn't know they were alright.

"I don't care, I want to see them." I say harshly, making my way out of the cell. "Ben! Sarah!" I called, leaning on the wall for support as I glanced around frantically. I only saw a couple of people, one of which was a child but not the child I was hoping to see.  
"Please, you have to rest. You are concussed."

"I'm not resting until I see them!" I yell, turning back to look at him. I almost regretted it, because I could see the bit of hurt in his old blue eyes.  
"HARPER!" I pushed myself off of the wall as I heard the familiar voice of what was left of my family. I didn't see where they came from, but within seconds they were in arms reach.

"Oh, my god." I knelt down as they crashed into my arms and held them to me as tight as I could. "I was so worried. Are you guys okay?" I asked, looking them over to make sure they had no injuries. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Of course not. They saved us. Don't you remember?" Ben looks at me like I have two heads and I let out a relieved giggle before I embraced them again.

"I'm just glad you two are safe." I winced, releasing them from my hold as my hands flew to my temples. I felt something soft and realized there was a bandage wrapped around my head.

"You took a nasty fall, from what Daryl told us.." Another voice. I raised my head to look and found another man standing behind Ben and Sarah. He wasn't as old as the other but he wasn't too young either, probably early forties.

"Hershel here," he nodded to the older man, "is our doctor. He'll get you fixed up and then you can be on your way."  
"Rick-" Hershel started, but was silenced by Rick's stare. I nodded as I got to my feet.

"I understand."

"Good." And that was that. Rick turned and left the room, leaving us alone with Hershel. _Bit of an asshole, that one_. I sighed, looking down at Ben and Sarah with a small smile. "So, I hear there are other kids here."This prospect comforted me. All the other people and groups we had ran into were not exactly 'family friendly'.

"Yeah!" The excitement in Ben's sea blue eyes was evident, and it made my smile widen beyond belief. Something made him happy and that was good enough for me. "Can we go back and play with them?"

"Um," I looked down to Sarah and she nodded. She wanted to play as well. I laughed in disbelief. "Of course, of course. Go have fun." The word sounded strange as it left my mouth, fun. It was a concept that I thought the kids would have to go without for a lot longer. I continued to smile as they ran off without a second thought.  
"Seems they still have that sparkle." I turned to face Hershel, crossing my arms as I did so. He stood tall with the assistance of his crutches, which I'd just noticed he needed because he was missing half of his right leg.  
"You have no idea how hard its been to keep it there." My thoughts once again trailed off to my sister, my brother.. my family. "They're amazing kids, and I intend to keep them that way, walking corpses be damned." Hershel smiled sadly, making his way closer to me.  
"Well, I would advise you to go lay down some more. There are some Excedrin tablets on the desk next to the bed for your headac-"  
_Gaaaaaarbbbllllle_.  
I felt my face heat up as a blush spread across my face. The old man chuckled lightly. "Well, I suppose you're hungry, too."

"Apparently," I giggled awkwardly, rubbing my stomach with my hand.

So far, so good. A few days had passed, and in my staying I met their entire group. Although they all seemed nice enough, the only person I'd really come to see as a true friend was Hershel. Of course, Ben and Sarah had been having a hoot with the children. I'd spent most of my time watching them play. Ben's dirty blonde hair blew in the wind slightly, as it had grown quite a bit. His wonderful toothy smile that I hadn't seen in months was plastered on his face, but it had been just recently that I'd begun to notice just how skinny he was. He used to be a chunker for a ten year old, his smile raising his plump cheeks so high you could barely see the color of his eyes. Now, at twelve, he was probably seventy pounds. Sarah sat in the grass with another little girl, who was stationed behind her, braiding her long brown locks. Although she didn't speak, I could see in her bright green eyes that she was content. It all seemed so normal, so happy. Watching them play tag in the sun, giggles riding the warm breeze that blew through. Then the prison fence came into view, and the walkers lurking just beyond. The giggles are twisted in with the growls and cries of the hungry dead, and I'm reminded that all is not well.

"Ben, you're too close to the fence!" I yell as he brushed against the chain linked boarder trying to run away from another boy. He laughed, brushing me off with an "okay!" as he continued to dodge. I giggled, shaking my head. Boys will be boys.

"Hey." Daryl popped up to my left and I jumped, bringing a hand to my chest.

"Jesus, hi." Daryl was the man that saved us from the walkers. According to Ben, when I'd hit my head, he'd came up behind us and shot the walker with his crossbow. Then he carried me to the prison with the kids in tow. It amazed me, that even in a world that had gone to absolute shit, that a complete stranger had risked their life to save us. I'd already thanked him a million times over, and would do so for the rest of my days.

"Rick and I are going into town to get supplies, says he wants you with us." Didn't sound like a request, and I was suddenly feeling a little bit nervous. Sure, they'd saved us but maybe they thought we were too much of a hassle. Due to my head injury, I hadn't done much in my time with them. Maybe this was my chance to prove myself.

"Uh, alright, I'll be there in a minute." I smiled at him tightly and he just gave me a nod, making his way towards the cars. I watched as he left and saw Rick waiting for him, his hands on his hips and a harsh expression on his face.

"Shit." I muttered, stomping my foot to the earth and crossing my arms. I was hoping they would let us stay. The kids were so happy here, and we were SAFE. It may not have been what I was hoping for, but its the closest we'd ever gotten to security. I glanced over to find Hershel and Beth sitting on a set of steps near one of the side doors into the prison. I jogged over to them.

"Hey Hershel, I have to make a run with Daryl and Rick. Could you keep an eye on Ben and Sarah for me?" He was the only person I trusted enough to ask. Otherwise, I would've told Rick to stick it where the sun didn't shine.

"O'course. You be safe." He smiled, and I returned it. He reminded me so much of my grandfather.  
"Thanks." I turned to look at the kids again, wondering if I should say goodbye to them or not. I decided to, and though they both looked as if they wanted to tie me down, they gave me kisses and saw me off. I smiled at them as I buckled my seat belt in the car before rolling down the window.  
"I'll be back before you know it." This was the first time we would apart in over a year. We were all we had and now, for us, it was a big risk. My heart wrenched as I watched Sarah tear up. Ben grabbed her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. Carl, who I'd learned was Rick's son, came up to bring them back towards the prison and before I knew it, we were on the road.


End file.
